Shirley Jones Turns 90! Sons Shaun Cassidy, Patrick Cassidy and Ryan Cassidy CelebratePartridge FamilyStar

Mar. 15, 2025

The Oscar-winning actress andThe Partridge Familyicon hit the big 9-0 on Sunday, March 31 — and celebrated in an intimate party in a snowy mountain getaway.

Jones' sonShaun Cassidy, 65, documented the events on social media, sharing a photo of him and his brothers — Patrick Cassidy, 62, andRyan Cassidy, 58 — posing with the Hollywood legend.

“Happy 90th birthday to Miss Pittsburgh!” he captioned the post, with a nod to Jones' beauty pageant win back in 1952. “What an incredible night.”

For her big day, Jones was decked out in a bedazzled blue tracksuit. She wore a golden sash that read “90 & Fabulous,” and donned a silver tiara with the number “90” in the center.

“The flowers were gifts from fans who’d recently discovered her — and her glorious singing voice — in the motion pictureOklahoma,“he explained in a long note on his website. “Mom would soon begin shooting her second film for Rodgers & Hammerstein,Carousel, and in a few years, she’d win the Academy Award for a dramatic turn in [1960’s]Elmer Gantry.”

Shirley Jones with sons Patrick Cassidy, Ryan Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy.Shaun Cassidy/Instagram

Shaun Cassidy/Instagram

Of course, while the public knows Shirley from those films — and for her extensive work on television, including inThe Partridge Family— Shaun said that “to us, her family, Shirley Jones has always simply been mom.”

“In a journey full of dramatic highs and lows, mom has always been an optimist and a lover of life,” he wrote, praising “this small-town girl from Western Pennsylvania, who grew up to become a movie star but who never acted like one.”

“Simple things mean the most to her: family, friends, nature, animals, laughter, sing-a-longs at the piano, a dry martini. Not necessarily in that order,” he joked.

Shirley Jones in ‘The Partridge Family’.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

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“Each person from the youngest granddaughter to the oldest son told a story about what this incredible woman meant to them,” he recalled of the event. “It was one of the most beautiful, emotional, personal moments all of us could’ve ever asked for.”

“Happy Birthday Shirley Jones,” Patrick wrote. “A mother, a grandmother, a mother-in-law, a person that has meant so much to so many. But most of all to us, your family. We Love You ❤️🎂 .”

David Cassidy and Shirley Jones, circa 1970.Bettmann

Bettmann

Shirley was married to Jack Cassidy from 1956 until 1975, the pair having sons Shaun, Patrick and Ryan together. She was also mom to stepsonDavid Cassidy, whodied from organ failure in November 2017 at the age of 67.

After divorcing Jack, Shirley married actor and comedianMarty Ingelsin 1977. They remained together until Ingels' death in October 2015 (though Shirley filed and withdrew a divorce petition in 2002). Jack, meanwhile, died in a 1976 fire at the age of 49.

The actress spent four years playing matriarch Shirley Partridge onThe Partridge Family, the beloved ABC musical sitcom loosely based on The Cowsills, the real-life musical family. The show followed a young widowed mother and her five children who tour the country with their singing group in a signature painted bus.

The Partridge Family.AP Photo/Copyright CPT Holdings Inc, Courtesy Sony Pictures Television

Shirley famously accepted the role after turning down the part of Carol Brady onThe Brady Bunch.And while the show earned her a No. 1 hit (with “I Think I Love You”) and is no doubt a key part of her legacy, Shirley has admitted it had a negative affect on her film roles.

“The problem withPartridge— though it was great for me and gave me an opportunity to stay home and raise my kids — when my agents came to me and presented it to me, they said if you do a series and it becomes a hit show, you will be that character for the rest of your life and your film career will go into the toilet, which is what happened,” she toldThe Vancouver Sunin 2009. “But I have no regrets.”

source: people.com